If the mayor took notice he’d find that even the people graduating from public schools often lack basic reading and math skills. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly 30 percent of U.S. public school graduates have to take a remedial class before they can do basic college work.

Years ago I called for parents to get in the streets and start marching and screaming against this abuse of America’s children.

Earlier this month 11,000 parents, teachers and students took to the barricades to protest de Blasio’s scheme to crush charter schools in front of the New York State Capitol in Albany.

Fifty years ago, Gov. Wallace stood in a doorway at the University of Alabama. There wasn't much doubt then time that Gov. Wallace was a racist. Fast forward fifty years and another Democrat is standing in another school door. Then as now, the Democrat's stand is preventing minority students from getting a fair shot at the American Dream.

It isn't a stretch to say that that's totally un-American.

Whether Mayor de Blasio is as openly racist as Gov. Wallace was then, his actions tell the story that he's siding against minority students and with the teachers unions. That's totally unacceptable.

Cuomo, a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, hit the nail on the head when he told an interviewer:

“The problem with the public education system is that it is failing too many students. And failing schools have now failed generations of students. And we need to be focusing on that issue. You want to talk about civil rights issues of our day? A failing public education system, I think, is the civil rights issue of our day.”

The first champion of school choice was then-Gov. Tommy Thompson, (R-WI) and then-Gov. John Engler, (R-MI). They championed the cause in the early 1990's. For years, the Democrats didn't dare support school choice for fear that the teachers unions would primary them.

It's only recently that Democrats have started getting the courage to stand up to the unions. To his credit, Juan Williams has been consistent in fighting the school choice fight:

Back in 2012, I worked with School Activist and Filmmaker Kyle Olson to make the documentary a “Tale of Two Missions” about the success of charter schools in Chicago.

The thesis of the documentary was that the charter schools and the public schools have different agendas.

The charters primary mission is giving young people the skills to advantage of all this country has to offer.

The Chicago teachers’ union’s primary mission is to get generous teacher contracts and lifetime tenure for their members– with limited accountability for student failure. Go on-line to watch the video.

First, the documentary that Williams mentioned is the video attached to this article. Next, it isn't surprising that the unions' job is to protect their members, not the students. It's just that parents have reached the boiling point. They don't care about union collective bargaining agreements. Their only concern is that their children get a great educational opportunity and a shot at the American dream:

The School Choice movement has fire in the belly, the likes of which I have never seen.

People are finally marching in the streets, filing lawsuits. The fight is happening right now in New York. Let’s hope it arrives soon in every town, city and suburb.

Hell hath no fury like a parent of a child who isn't getting a legitimate shot at the American Dream. The unions won't know what hit them until it's too late.

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As a conservative activist, blogger and reporter, Gary Gross knows the players making the biggest decision in Minnesota politics, especially central Minnesota politics.
His extensive contacts within Minnesota's political structure, developed while writing at Let Freedom Ring Blog, serve him well in bringing his readers the news you can't find anywhere else.
Gary's expertise in health care and regulatory reform and political doublespeak help him untangle the politicians' spin so John Q. Public has the information he needs to consistently make smart decisions.
Gary can be reached at gmg425@charter.net.

At a military parade marking the 32nd anniversary of the start of the Iran-Iraq war, Iran displayed an all new air-defense system. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also criticized the west and a film made in the US that mocks the Prophet Muhammad. (Sept. 21)